CHAPTER XXIITHE HOLY MENAs he scanned the scene, Frank smiled at his thought of the wonderment of the khanji and his humble guests could they but see the habitat of the mysterious "holy men." They, no doubt, had imagined a cave in the cliff, or at best a stone grot, with nothing to suggest modern civilization. What he actually saw had no semblance of luxury, indeed; but it was far from the austerities of the anchorites of old.On the left of the clearing, as he looked towards the sea, was a small wooden bungalow, with a verandah about three sides of it, pleasantly shaded by trees. Beyond it, at the edge of the wood, was a smaller hut, also of wood. To the right were three more huts, one considerably larger than the others; and by the side of this last was a crane, worked by a donkey engine. Two men were moving about the place, hauling packages from the large hut to the crane. Apparently they were to be let down--to what destination below, Frank could not see."I am getting warm," he thought.It was necessary to discover what lay beneath the crane, and Frank glanced round to find some safe and convenient path by which he might secretly approach it. As he did so, he caught sight of a short pole on the roof of the bungalow, from which a single telegraph wire passed over the clearing to the left and disappeared into the wood. Just below him, skirting the clearing on the right, ran the stream with which he was already acquainted. It was possible, he thought, under cover of the shrubs on the further bank, to gain a point where he might satisfy his curiosity. Cautiously making his way along, completely screened, he came to a spot where the stream fell sheer to the level of the beach between high cliffs, through which it cut a channel to the sea. Immediately beneath the cliff on which the bungalow and the huts stood there was a broad pool, bounded by a similar cliff on the opposite side. And on this pool, just beneath the crane, lay a lighter.Frank at once realised that the pool, like the buildings, was out of sight from the sea. If a ship were to pass the entrance of the channel, those on board, seeing the waterfall, would at once know that the stream was not navigable, and would probably not think it worth while to enter the channel. No one would suspect that within, indented in the cliffs to the right, there was a small natural harbour, in which a vessel might lie perfectly concealed. Its depth Frank had no means of determining. Immediately beneath him the water was churned into foam by the falling stream. But it was clearly deep enough to float a lighter, and it was equally clear that the depth of the channel must be sufficient for its passage in and out.From his place of concealment Frank watched. At the foot of the crane there was now a pile of small packages. From one of the huts came a stout bearded man in grimy blue overalls. He sidled into his seat at the donkey engine, jerked the throttle, and addressed one of the labourers. He spoke in Turkish, but in a harsh guttural voice that could proceed from none but a German throat. A moment later Frank heard another voice from the direction of the bungalow, which was hidden from him by the intervening huts. He could not distinguish the words, but immediately afterwards a German sailor came out of the hut on the seaward side of the bungalow, saluted, and rolled off into the woods crowning the cliff. Before he had quite disappeared, Frank noticed a second sailor climbing down the trunk of a tall tree, and lifting his glass (the excellent article for which he was indebted to the major of artillery with whom he had made certain exchanges in Gallipoli) he made out a rope ladder swinging from a lofty branch. The two sailors met at the foot of the tree. They exchanged a few words; then the newcomer ascended the ladder, and the look-out he had relieved sauntered towards the hut.Realising that his hiding-place was commanded from the look-out post in the tree, Frank slightly changed his position."I am getting warmer," he said to himself. Meanwhile the engine had begun to puff. The crane extended its arm, and the chain rattled as one of the men was let down into the lighter. The packages were then lowered one by one, and stowed on board. When the last of them had been placed, the man below caught hold of the chain, and the engine-man began to lift him. But the man's feet were only a few feet above the vessel, and the arm of the crane had just begun to swing round, when there came an imperative call from the bungalow."Adolf!""Ja, Herr Major," shouted the engine-man.He at once stopped the engine, and wiping his hands on a mass of waste, hurried towards the bungalow, leaving the Turk swinging. Frank smiled at this illustration of German discipline, and was still more amused when he noticed that the Turk, instead of dropping into the pool and clambering on board the lighter as he might have done safely, clung on to the hook at the end of the chain and dangled there, apparently too frightened to call out in a tone loud enough to be heard by the martinet in the bungalow.Frank's attention was withdrawn from the Turk by the same loud voice bidding the engine-man hurry."That sounds uncommonly like Wonckhaus," he thought. "Why, of course! That's not surprising. He was with the party at Panderma when I caught sight of that periscope. But perhaps it isn't he. A lot of these Germans have the same sort of voice. I'd like to make sure."After a careful look round he stole back along the bank of the stream until he came opposite the wood in the rear of the clearing, crossed to the other side, crept through the wood, darted across the road, then turned to the right and in the course of a few minutes reached the trees which had been left standing to shade the bungalow when the ground was cleared. Moving among them cautiously, he came to the rear of the building. It had evidently been run up hurriedly. Piles of timber left over from its construction were stacked close behind it. After a little hesitation Frank gained the shelter of one of these. There were voices at his right, where the verandah was closed at the end. The planks there, being of unseasoned wood, had started, leaving one or two gaping cracks. Frank looked through one of these into the verandah. Two men were lolling in deck chairs. Between them was a table on which there were tumblers, bottles, and the remains of a meal.The furthermost man, whose face was towards Frank, was clearly a Turkish officer. He was smoking a cigarette. The nearer figure, broader, more massive, showed only his side face. That belonged either to Wonckhaus or to his double. He was reclining at ease. His right hand held a big cigar. Opposite him stood the engine-man."Get everything ready for to-night, then," Wonckhaus was saying."Jawohl, Herr Major."At this moment shouts came from the direction of the pool. Frank smiled again: the suspended Turk had at last mustered the courage of despair."What is that horrible noise?" demanded Wonckhaus."It is probably the hamal," replied the engine-man."Why does he shout? What is the matter with him? Is he drowning?""No, Herr Major, he is hanging.""Lieber Himmel! What do you mean?""He is half way up. I left him there when the Herr Major summoned me. He is getting tired. He will drop.""Dummkopf! Go and haul him up instantly. He is a useful man."Wonckhaus burst into loud laughter."It is amusing, very funny."He took a long drink and resumed:"There are occasions, lieutenant, when our admirable German discipline recoils upon us. But one cannot have it all ways. Take a drink.""Thank you, major, but I will not drink beer. Some Turks take it with a quiet conscience, but not I.""Please yourself. When we have been with you a little longer your scruples will vanish. There are lemons; help yourself. How you can drink lemonade passes my understanding. Lemons set my teeth on edge. The scent of them makes me shudder."The Turk was in the act of squeezing a lemon into a tumbler when a telegraph instrument clicked."Take it, will you?" said Wonckhaus, indolently.The Turk sprang up and went through a French window into the adjoining room. The clicking continued for a while. Presently he returned."Three torpedo boats, two believed to be British, one French, sighted off Cape Baba," he said."Ah! our friends will scarcely get in to-night, then, unless they have already slipped past.""It will not be easy to see them in the darkness.""These English have eyes everywhere. They see in the dark like a cat. Yet perhaps with luck and, what is better, German watchfulness, all will be well. Hand me the telephone."The Turk obeyed silently, but in a manner that suggested resentment at the German's peremptory tone. Wonckhaus spoke into the instrument in German."Keep a sharp look-out. Torpedo boats are reported off the coast."The lieutenant got up and moved towards the door."I shall turn in," called Wonckhaus after him. "You had better do the same. We shall be up all night; probably to no purpose. I am tired of this. It would suit one of Von Tirpitz's men better than me."He lay back in his chair, pulled at his cigar, and finding that it had gone out, threw it away, rose, stretched himself, yawned, and walked slowly into the bungalow.Frank had heard and seen enough. He knew what the "holy men" were engaged in. It only remained to return on his tracks and report his discoveries to the lieutenant-commander, who would know how to act on them. Slipping back into the wood, he made his leisurely way to his former observation post, where he sat down and ate some food he had brought from the khan, in the slow abstracted manner of one deep in thought. Then he returned by the way he had come, found his horse in the thicket, and rode southward, without hurry, for his friends would not expect him until dark.On approaching the road, he dismounted, again tied up his horse to a tree, and threw himself on his back. He was very tired, but dared not indulge his longing for a nap, and when he found slumber stealing upon him, he sprang up and strolled about in the woods. The afternoon seemed particularly long. But he was prudent enough not to take to the open road until the fall of night. Then he rode rapidly, passed the khan, turned his horse loose some distance from it, and struck off towards the shore. It was a matter of some ten minutes' walking before he came to the matting, which now lay dry on the beach where it had been left. There he sat, looking over the sea, and listening intently. About an hour later his ears caught the faint sound of muffled oars. He walked down to the brink of the water, waited a few moments until assured that he was not mistaken, then gave a low whistle. The boat pulled in, and Frank, too impatient to await its beaching, waded out towards it and scrambled over the side."Well?" whispered the lieutenant-commander."O.K. Now it's up to you. I'll tell you all about it when we get clear of the shore."CHAPTER XXIIICAPTURING A SUBMARINENothing more was said until Frank and the naval officer were once more aboard the fishing vessel. Then, as the boat ran down the coast, Frank related his experiences of the past two days."Holy men!" chuckled the lieutenant-commander. "It'll be sacrilege, then. After this war I shall cruise about the world in search of a German with a sense of humour. You say you know that fellow?""Yes, and I've a bone to pick with him. He nearly did me out of a carpet.""Oh! How was that?"Frank told as much as he cared to of the incident in Erzerum. The naval officer laughed."It was amusing, certainly, until the ruffian had me locked up," said Frank.And then, bit by bit, his companion drew from him the details upon which he had kept silence."I wish we had a Ruhleben in England," growled the officer. "Our prisoners have too easy a time. But this Wonckhaus shall have an opportunity of cultivating holiness in an English prison, and I hope he won't like it."Presently he went forward, and sent a few flashes seaward from a lantern carefully screened from the shore. There were answering flashes out at sea. In half an hour a destroyer loomed up out of the darkness. The lieutenant-commander went aboard with Frank and the seamen, and the fishing vessel was made fast to a hawser from the stern. There was a brief conference on deck."That's all right then," said the officer. "Now, my dear chap, you must be dead tired. Tumble below. I'll wake you when I want you."While Frank slept, the destroyer ran slowly up the gulf. He awoke at a touch."Sorry to disturb you so soon, but you must come up."Frank rose sleepily and went on deck. The destroyer was moving dead slow."We're on a course parallel with the shore," said the officer. "Just keep your eye lifting over the port quarter, will you?"Frank did as he was instructed. In a minute or two he saw two dim lights on shore, which vanished almost immediately."The question is, are they the lights of a farmhouse, or somewhere in the channel?" said the officer."It's late for a farmhouse.""Exactly. Wait a little. Keep looking out."The vessel stopped, then moved slowly backward. The lights appeared again."Now I'll tell you my inference," the officer went on. "From your description of the place, lights in the bungalow or the huts could not be seen from the sea. But lights placed somewhere on the cliffs at the end of the channel could be seen as we pass across the mouth, and only then; a movement of a few yards forward or astern will shut them off. I take it, then, that the lights are in fact at the inner end of the channel--and we know why.""I haven't any doubt of it," said Frank."Then go below and get into your own toggery. You may then sleep another hour or two."About two hours after midnight Frank was again awakened. With the lieutenant-commander, a lieutenant, a warrant-officer, and two sturdy seamen in addition to the boat's crew, he got into the fishing vessel, which cast off and stood in towards the shore. The destroyer steamed away out to sea. The officers were armed with revolvers, the men with rifles.It was about two hours before dawn when the party landed from the dinghy at the spot on the beach where the matting showed up darkly against the sand. Placing himself at the head, Frank led the way up through the trees, the rest following about a yard apart. They marched in perfect silence; not a word was uttered. Every now and then as they penetrated the dark woodland Frank halted. The officer next to him touched him on the shoulder, the next touched him in turn, and so on along the line until all were accounted for. The necessity of caution made their progress slow, and they took more than an hour to cover ground which Frank alone had traversed in twenty minutes. Then they stopped, and lay down in the wood to await the dawn.According to Frank's calculation it was about seven miles from their landing-place to the bungalow by the road, possibly a little shorter distance along the cliffs. But they would gain nothing in time by taking the shorter way, owing to the denseness of the woodland. To proceed along the road would almost certainly be fatal, for unfrequented though it was, no one could say that some member of the Turko-German party, or some messenger from a distance, might not happen to pass on an errand, and the sight of eight men in British uniform would give the game away. As soon as a glimmer of daylight filtered through the foliage, therefore, Frank led them on as close to the shore as possible. During their pause they had taken the opportunity to eat some bread and cheese they had brought with them."There won't be time for breakfast in the bungalow," murmured Frank with a smile.The way along the cliffs proved unexpectedly arduous, and it was past midday when they arrived at the outer fence, at a spot not far distant from where Frank had first encountered it. Here the warrant officer went forward, cut the wire in two places, and, when the party had passed through, joined the severed ends in such a way that they could be readily loosened, though only a close examination would discover what had been done. Once more Frank took the lead, following his scarcely distinguishable track of two days before. Leaving the rest of the party among the trees, he went on alone until he reached the live fence, and having enlarged the small excavation through which he had wriggled, he crept to his hiding-place on the bank of the stream to observe what was going on at the bungalow and the pool.Things were apparently very much as when he left nearly twenty-four hours before. There was one new feature in the scene. A rough country cart stood in front of one of the huts, and two Turks--one of them the victim of German discipline--were unloading it and carrying the stores into the hut. No driver was visible, and Frank remembered that the country people were not allowed to come within the fence. At the gate, then, must be at least one man on guard. A man crossed between the bungalow and the adjacent hut: probably he was cook and servant to the officers. The engine-man sat on an upturned tub, smoking, and exercising his German wit on the labouring Turks. A look-out was perched on his platform in the tree, peering through a telescope. No doubt the officers were in the bungalow, possibly sleeping after a wakeful night. The whole party appeared to consist of eight men--a small force considering the importance of their duties; but Frank reflected that a larger force would have endangered the precious secret they were guarding.To him, of course, it was a secret no longer. This secluded pool had been chosen, with admirable judgment, as the base of one of the German submarines which had lately been mischievous in the Ægean. It was probably the very submarine whose periscope he had caught a rapid glimpse of at Panderma. Wonckhaus had been put in charge of the base, no doubt because the injury to his leg had temporarily unfitted him for the heavy work required of the German infantry officer. He had expected the vessel to run in on the previous night, until the telegraph wire brought news that enemy torpedo boats were watching in the gulf. That it had not arrived was clear at a glance. The only vessel in the pool was the lighter, and Frank suspected that the packages he had seen lowered into it contained supplies for the submarine crew, and had been removed from the hut for greater facility in transferring them to the war vessel. The "holy men," to do them justice, did not consume the whole of the immense consignments which had amazed the Turkish carrier.The object with which the small British party had come to this secret spot was nothing less than the capture of the submarine. As a preliminary to that they must seize the settlement and its inhabitants, a feat for which the seven British seamen who had come under his guidance should be amply competent. They had four Germans, trained men, to deal with; three Turks, of whom one was an officer, the two others menials; and the servant, whose nationality Frank did not know; he might be a Levantine, and of no account. With the advantage of surprise and of British daring and discipline the task of the adventurous eight should be easy enough. The one essential condition of success was that none of the German's party should get away. The escape of a single man might ruin the enterprise.Frank waited some time at his post of observation, to make sure that his estimate of the number of the enemy was accurate. He saw the last load carried from the cart to the hut; it was a nine-gallon cask of beer; then one of the Turks mounted, and drove off down the road. As soon as he no longer heard the rumbling of the wheels, Frank hastened back to his friends."I thought you were never coming," said the lieutenant-commander. "Is she there?""No. Evidently she couldn't get through.""I didn't think she would, but I'm glad to be sure of it, for we couldn't have tackled the whole crew. Why were you so long?"Frank gave the result of his observations. The officers smiled happily."Now then," said the lieutenant-commander, "the first thing is to raid the bungalow, and collar the officers. They control the telegraph and telephone. You know the place, Forester; I'll give you two of the men to assist. They'll take their instructions from you. I'll wait until I get a signal from you that you have done the trick, or until I hear a row in that direction. They are sure to show fight. But I needn't say that if you can manage it quietly, so much the better for our ultimate success.""I'll do my best," said Frank. "It's a good deal later than when I was here yesterday, and I shouldn't be surprised if they're taking their siesta.""Very well. Now let me take my bearings. How do I steer?""You go straight on until you reach the stream. You'll see the place where I have scooped a passage for you at the foot of one of the posts supporting the wire. The men must be careful, or they'll be electrocuted.""I'll see to that.""You cross the stream, turn to the left, cut along the bank--and there you are.""Perfectly clear sailing directions. But what about the road?""Cross that: you can slip along among the trees. Better keep a look-out for the Turk who went down with the cart. He'll be coming back presently, with the German seaman who I suspect was on guard at the gate.""You'll be a staff-officer some day, my friend. Well, it's all clear. We'll arrange our plans: you had better cut off. Here, Moggs and Parker, you're under Mr. Forester's orders."Two strapping seamen jumped up and saluted. One of them hitched up his breeches and spat on his hands."Good luck, then," said the lieutenant-commander.Frank nodded, smiled, and led the men along the route he had followed the previous day to the timber stack at the rear of the bungalow. On the way he halted for a few minutes to explain in general terms what his purpose was, and to impress on them the need of absolute silence. When he reached the trees, he left them there under cover, to await his signal. Then he stole forward alone.There was no sound except the servant moving about in the kitchen part of the building. He peeped through a chink in the wall of the verandah. No one was in view, but he now heard a succession of snores and grunts from somewhere in the interior. Turning, he beckoned to the seamen to join him. They came swiftly on tiptoe, screened from the look-out in the tree-top, not far away to their left, by the row of trees that almost overhung the bungalow.Frank signed to them to stoop and follow him. Bending low, he crept along below the verandah, stopped for a moment to peep into a room, and finding that it was a bedroom and empty, led them on towards the kitchen. This, too, a glance showed to be unoccupied. But the servant must be near at hand, for Frank heard the splashing of water and the clatter of crockery. He must be washing up.Moving still more cautiously, Frank came to the corner of the building. He looked round. Just outside the door a young sallow-hued oriental was washing up in a trough. Frank stole back to his men."Parker, you'll come with me," he whispered. "I'll leave you here, Moggs, to watch that fellow. If you hear a row inside the building, collar him and keep him quiet. But don't move otherwise unless I call you.""Ay, ay, sir."Followed by Parker, he went to the French window of the empty bedroom, gently forced the catch with his clasp knife, and entered. Tiptoeing across it, he passed out of the open door, into a short passage. From the left he heard the faint sounds of the cook's movements: the kitchen was in that direction. On the right, a few steps along, light fell across the passage from an open door. Frank stole up to this and peeped in. It was another bedroom, like the first unoccupied. Almost opposite this was a closed door; there was no other door on either side or at the end. This must be the sitting-room, parlour or sanctum of the holy men. Muffled by the timber, there came through the door the sound of snoring he had heard outside. He listened for a moment. The snores were all in one tone: it appeared likely that he had only one man to deal with. Was it Wonckhaus or the Turk? Or perhaps Wonckhaus was sleeping, and the other man admiring him.He drew his revolver, very gently turned the handle of the door, and looked in when the crack was wide enough. The room had only one occupant. Wonckhaus, big, ungainly, lay stretched in a long cane chair, his head lolling sideways, his mouth wide open, one arm hanging limp, a long German pipe held loosely in the other hand. On a small round table beside him were a tobacco-jar, a black bottle, and a glass. Beyond this was another long chair, beside which stood a stool, bearing a glass, a carafe of water, and a few small pale lemons. And the room rang with German snores.Frank's eye, swiftly ranging the room, passed from the lemons to the open mouth. It was a happy chance. He turned to Parker at his elbow and whispered a few words. The man nodded. Then Frank opened the door, and stole on his toes round the back of Wonckhaus's chair to the stool. From this he took up a lemon about the size of a hen's egg, and with the quickness of a conjurer slipped it into the gaping mouth. The German awoke with a convulsive start and shudder--and his eyes, bleared with sleep, fell on a revolver pointed within six inches of his temple, and above it the face, a little grimmer than it had ever appeared in a photograph, of the man whom he had not seen for many weeks, even in his dreams.Before he could collect his wits, Parker stepped up to him on the other side and with some ends of thin rope which he had taken from his capacious blouse tied the German's hands and feet, with a British seaman's quickness and thoroughness."Now for the cook," said Frank.They went back into the passage. The cook was still washing up. Entering the kitchen noiselessly, they crept to the door. Frank made a sign, Parker rushed out, caught the unsuspicious servant by the throat, and in two minutes had laid him, gagged and trussed, just inside the kitchen door. It was a credit to the discipline of the British navy that Moggs, watching these proceedings with amazement round the corner, neither moved nor uttered a sound.It was now time to bring up the rest of the party, who, he guessed, had by this time reached a point from which he could be seen if he moved a few yards from the bungalow towards the hut opposite. But in making this movement he would be seen also from the tree-top. The look-out must be prevented from giving the alarm. Frank showed the seamen how they might approach the tree from the rear unperceived, and ordered them to make the man their prisoner. When that was done he would give the expected signal to the others.The seamen had only just disappeared among the trees when Frank was startled by the sound of a horse cantering up the road towards the bungalow. Running to the window of the room facing the road, he saw that the horseman was the Turkish officer who had been with Wonckhaus two days before. It seemed that the naval party had not yet arrived, or they would certainly have intercepted the Turk.Frank weighed the chances of tackling this opponent alone, and quickly made up his mind. With two of the enemy already accounted for, and a third, the look-out, soon to be helpless, the noise of a struggle would bring up the rest of his party before the remaining four men could interfere to his harm. He waited within the room. The Turk reined up and dismounted at the door, and walked in unsuspiciously. At this moment there was a shout from the direction of the look-out tree, and the officer turned quickly and ran out into the open. Frank sprang after him. The Turk heard his footsteps and faced round, not rapidly enough to brace himself for the shock of Frank's sudden onset. He was hurled to the ground, shouting an alarmed call for Wonckhaus.[image]A CRITICAL MOMENTThough taken by surprise, the Turk proved to be a more formidable antagonist than Frank had expected. His frame was well-knit and sinewy, and he held Frank in a fierce grapple. They heaved and rolled on the ground, each struggling desperately to throw off the grip of the other. In less than a minute Frank was aware that the contest, if fought out, must be a long one. By a sudden convulsive twist, indeed, the Turk had managed to reverse the positions and get above him. There were shouts near at hand, and the sound of running feet. Frank feared that the Germans were coming to the officer's help, and wrestled vigorously to regain the upper hand. Just as he felt that his opponent was weakening, the Turk suddenly relaxed his grip wholly and fell over. Springing up, Frank found that one of the seamen from the lieutenant-commander's party had run ahead of the rest, and finished the struggle with the butt of his rifle.Meanwhile the officers and the rest of the men had been busy at the huts. The few inmates, alarmed at the shouts, had started to run towards the bungalow, but came to a sudden stop when, on the other side of the buildings, they saw five British naval men charging in the same direction. They hesitated, paralysed by surprise; and when the lieutenant-commander rushed up with drawn revolver and called on them to surrender, they yielded without a show of resistance, and were soon prisoners in their own huts."Where's Wonckhaus?" were the lieutenant-commander's first words as he joined Frank at the bungalow."Come and see."He led him into the room where Wonckhaus lay bound in his chair, the lemon still wedged between his teeth. The naval officer concealed a smile."Perhaps the gentleman would prefer some beer," he said. "Remove that plug, Simpson," he added to the warrant officer, indicating the lemon. "Give the major some beer, and then lock him in his bedroom. We shall want this room."Wonckhaus glared at Frank with unspeakable hate, but uttered no word. When he had been removed, the warrant officer went to see what had become of Moggs and Parker, and met them returning in high feather with their prisoner. The look-out had caught sight of them just as they reached the tree, and given the shout which had alarmed the Turkish officer. But seeing himself immediately covered by the sailor's rifles he had surrendered at once. The place was won, and all its personnel disposed of.Having ordered his men to prepare dinner from the bungalow's abundant stores, the lieutenant-commander with his second and Frank sat down to discuss the more difficult problem--the capture of the submarine."Our only chance is if it comes in to-night," said the lieutenant-commander. "As it was expected last night, it is pretty certain to come to-night, and our ships have ostentatiously cleared off. If it doesn't come, we are done, for we can't remain here undiscovered for another day.""Why not?" asked the lieutenant."Well, apart from possible visits from Germans or Turks, there's the telegraph. A message is sure to come through, and it will be in Turkish probably. It was the Turk who took the message when you were here before, Forester?""Yes.""Very well. You can work the telegraph, Bickford, but you don't know Turkish. Forester knows Turkish, but----""I can't work the telegraph," said Frank."Then if we are called up we must simply ignore the call. That will lead to investigation and discovery. There's my proposition proved. We must help the submarine to come in to-night. Where are those lights worked?""Let's go and see," said Frank.After no long search two electric lamps, fed from the dynamo that charged the fence wire, were discovered in the cliff opposite the centre of the channel. They were so placed as to give a straight course to any vessel coming up from the sea. Another lamp, invisible from the sea, marked the entrance to the pool. It was decided to switch on the current at dusk.To guard against trouble on the landward side, two seamen were stationed in hiding near the gate of the inner fence, which was left open. If anyone should approach, he was to be allowed to pass in; but the gate was then to be closed, cutting off his retreat. For safety's sake, the electric current was switched off from the fence.It was now about four o'clock. The lights would not need to be shown till nearly seven. There were three hours for rest and for recruiting their strength from Wonckhaus's larder. The officers hastened back to see what sort of a meal had been provided for them. It beggared their most hopeful expectation. There were pork cutlets--"the place is all pig, sir," remarked the extempore cook--several kinds of sausage, many varieties of pickle and relish, pots of caviare and pâté de foie gras, smoked salmon, a mellow gruyère cheese, as well as a very strong German cheese which the lieutenant-commander ordered to be removed immediately, tinned fruits, good white bread--"none of your potato flour for Wonckhaus"--and oceans of beer. Neither officers nor men had had such a meal for months."Please, sir," said Moggs, coming to the bungalow after the men had finished their dinner in the hut opposite."Well, what is it?""Can we strafe some more beer?""No, you've had enough. We've got work to do to-night."Moggs looked disappointed."Then it won't be done, sir," he said."What won't be done?""Why, sir, Parker said if we was allowed to strafe another barrel he'd be screwed up to concert pitch, and would be very happy to sing the Hymn of Hate to the German gentleman abaft yonder. He must want cheering up, says he.""Get out with you! Parker can sing what he likes when we get back aboard. Tell him he's to take first watch on the cliff to-night."At dusk the men went to their appointed stations. Parker was posted on the cliff near the entrance to the channel. The warrant officer took charge of the donkey-engine, Moggs was entrusted with the crane; the other men hauled from the storehouse several cases of ammunition, weighing in all three or four tons, piled them near the crane, chained them together, and covered them with a thick blanket taken from the bungalow. The lieutenant's task was to do what was necessary in the powerhouse. Frank sat with the lieutenant-commander in one of the huts.It was about ten o'clock when Parker came in hurriedly from his post on the cliff."Submarine coming in, sir," he reported. "I heard her purring under water first; then the engines stopped, and I saw her come awash just outside the channel. She'll be nearly here, sir."The officers went to the door of the hut, and listened anxiously. No sound was audible above the dash of the waterfall. Had the commander of the submarine become suspicious and run out to sea again? In a few minutes, however, the sound of the engines came faintly on the breeze. Looking through the darkness to the gap in the cliffs where the pool and the channel met, they at last saw the dark shape glide in. The engines were stopped, but the vessel's steerage way carried her into the pool, and she was brought up deftly alongside the lighter.From below came a hail in Turkish. Frank, now standing beside the crane, replied."Why didn't you answer our signals?" demanded the voice, huffily.Frank, who was unaware of any signals, answered at a venture:"There is something wrong with our lamps.""Who are you? Where is Talik?""He is invalided. I am taking his place. Are you coming up?""Yes. Why isn't Major Wonckhaus here?""He'll be here directly.""Well, switch on the light: what are you waiting for?""The switch is broken." Frank referred to the switch of an electric lamp at the top of the crane. "You must come up in the dark. Look out! The chain is running out."The engine had started, and the chain was swinging down over the arm of the crane. The commander of the submarine caught it, set his foot in the loop provided, and was hauled slowly up, and swung inward towards the huts. Meanwhile the men in waiting had removed the blanket from the pile of cases, and the moment the commander's feet touched the ground he was muffled closely in the blanket, and carried struggling into a hut, where his captors had materials ready for securing him."Good man!" murmured the lieutenant-commander, clapping Frank on the back. "With him out of the way all's well, I think. Now, I'll take up the running.--Look alive with those cases," he added, still in a low tone, addressing the seamen who were attaching the massed cases to the end of the chain. The crane swung out, and the weighty mass dangled directly over the submarine, on whose deck the crew could be dimly seen, gazing up in surprise: surely they were not to take in ammunition at this hour of the night. How much greater was their astonishment when they heard from above a ringing voice in English."Below there! Any of you speak English?"After a short interval a man replied in the affirmative."Thank you," called the lieutenant-commander. "I am in command of an English landing-party. Your commander is a prisoner. If your vessel attempts to move, I'll cut away the weight you see above you, and sink you. I give you three minutes to surrender."The terse sentences, the peremptory tone, left no room for doubt. Before the three minutes were up, the crew had come to a unanimous decision. They would surrender."Thank you. Now every one of you go aboard the lighter and leave your arms behind."The men went silently from one vessel to the other. Then the crane switch was suddenly found to be in order, and a light flashed from the top. From the lighter the men were hauled up by ropes, one by one."How many are there of you?" asked the lieutenant-commander of the first."Twenty."The same question put to one or two more received the same reply. As the men passed him, the officer counted them."Eighteen! Nineteen! No more?" He turned to two British sailors. "Down you go!"They slid down the rope, boarded the submarine, and dived below. In a few moments they returned, hauling a man between them. They made him fast to the chain, and by the time he was hoisted they had swarmed up the rope."Just going to fire the magazine, sir," said one."Tie him up."Half an hour later the submarine was heading out to sea, running on the surface. On the deck, uncomfortably crowded, lay a number of well-trussed figures--the commander and crew, and Wonckhaus: his subordinates at the station were left behind. Beyond Mitylene, as morning dawned, the lieutenant-commander exchanged signals with a destroyer out at sea. The vessel stood in, and in due time the submarine came alongside her. Cheers broke from the men on her deck. Willing hands hoisted the prisoners on board and loosed them from their bonds at the bidding of the commander."I much regret it was necessary to bind you, gentlemen," he said to the officers. "The necessity was clear."They heard him in glum silence--all but Wonckhaus."Necessity!" he blustered. "Is necessity to override the laws of civilised warfare? What sort of treatment is it to choke a German officer with lemons, tie him up, and sling him from a crane? It is unfair; it is barbarous."The commander glanced at Frank, standing in the background."Is it wise to talk of civilised warfare, Herr Wonckhaus?" he said quietly, stepping forward. "Shall I refresh your memory of what happened at Erzerum?""You were in my power," snarled the German, not a whit abashed, and sublimely unconscious of inconsistency. The humour of the situation tickled the British officers: they laughed aloud."That is unanswerable, sir," said the commander, with ironical courtesy. "You will no doubt do me the favour to go below. Mr. Watson, please show Major Wonckhaus the way."The smallest midshipman on the ship came forward, gravely saluted, and repressing a smile with obvious effort, said:"This way, sir."Wonckhaus looked from the midshipman to the commander. Something in the expression of the latter helped him to make up his mind. And a broad grin enwrapped the whole ship's company as the big German stalked away under convoy of the boy.
CHAPTER XXII
THE HOLY MEN
As he scanned the scene, Frank smiled at his thought of the wonderment of the khanji and his humble guests could they but see the habitat of the mysterious "holy men." They, no doubt, had imagined a cave in the cliff, or at best a stone grot, with nothing to suggest modern civilization. What he actually saw had no semblance of luxury, indeed; but it was far from the austerities of the anchorites of old.
On the left of the clearing, as he looked towards the sea, was a small wooden bungalow, with a verandah about three sides of it, pleasantly shaded by trees. Beyond it, at the edge of the wood, was a smaller hut, also of wood. To the right were three more huts, one considerably larger than the others; and by the side of this last was a crane, worked by a donkey engine. Two men were moving about the place, hauling packages from the large hut to the crane. Apparently they were to be let down--to what destination below, Frank could not see.
"I am getting warm," he thought.
It was necessary to discover what lay beneath the crane, and Frank glanced round to find some safe and convenient path by which he might secretly approach it. As he did so, he caught sight of a short pole on the roof of the bungalow, from which a single telegraph wire passed over the clearing to the left and disappeared into the wood. Just below him, skirting the clearing on the right, ran the stream with which he was already acquainted. It was possible, he thought, under cover of the shrubs on the further bank, to gain a point where he might satisfy his curiosity. Cautiously making his way along, completely screened, he came to a spot where the stream fell sheer to the level of the beach between high cliffs, through which it cut a channel to the sea. Immediately beneath the cliff on which the bungalow and the huts stood there was a broad pool, bounded by a similar cliff on the opposite side. And on this pool, just beneath the crane, lay a lighter.
Frank at once realised that the pool, like the buildings, was out of sight from the sea. If a ship were to pass the entrance of the channel, those on board, seeing the waterfall, would at once know that the stream was not navigable, and would probably not think it worth while to enter the channel. No one would suspect that within, indented in the cliffs to the right, there was a small natural harbour, in which a vessel might lie perfectly concealed. Its depth Frank had no means of determining. Immediately beneath him the water was churned into foam by the falling stream. But it was clearly deep enough to float a lighter, and it was equally clear that the depth of the channel must be sufficient for its passage in and out.
From his place of concealment Frank watched. At the foot of the crane there was now a pile of small packages. From one of the huts came a stout bearded man in grimy blue overalls. He sidled into his seat at the donkey engine, jerked the throttle, and addressed one of the labourers. He spoke in Turkish, but in a harsh guttural voice that could proceed from none but a German throat. A moment later Frank heard another voice from the direction of the bungalow, which was hidden from him by the intervening huts. He could not distinguish the words, but immediately afterwards a German sailor came out of the hut on the seaward side of the bungalow, saluted, and rolled off into the woods crowning the cliff. Before he had quite disappeared, Frank noticed a second sailor climbing down the trunk of a tall tree, and lifting his glass (the excellent article for which he was indebted to the major of artillery with whom he had made certain exchanges in Gallipoli) he made out a rope ladder swinging from a lofty branch. The two sailors met at the foot of the tree. They exchanged a few words; then the newcomer ascended the ladder, and the look-out he had relieved sauntered towards the hut.
Realising that his hiding-place was commanded from the look-out post in the tree, Frank slightly changed his position.
"I am getting warmer," he said to himself. Meanwhile the engine had begun to puff. The crane extended its arm, and the chain rattled as one of the men was let down into the lighter. The packages were then lowered one by one, and stowed on board. When the last of them had been placed, the man below caught hold of the chain, and the engine-man began to lift him. But the man's feet were only a few feet above the vessel, and the arm of the crane had just begun to swing round, when there came an imperative call from the bungalow.
"Adolf!"
"Ja, Herr Major," shouted the engine-man.
He at once stopped the engine, and wiping his hands on a mass of waste, hurried towards the bungalow, leaving the Turk swinging. Frank smiled at this illustration of German discipline, and was still more amused when he noticed that the Turk, instead of dropping into the pool and clambering on board the lighter as he might have done safely, clung on to the hook at the end of the chain and dangled there, apparently too frightened to call out in a tone loud enough to be heard by the martinet in the bungalow.
Frank's attention was withdrawn from the Turk by the same loud voice bidding the engine-man hurry.
"That sounds uncommonly like Wonckhaus," he thought. "Why, of course! That's not surprising. He was with the party at Panderma when I caught sight of that periscope. But perhaps it isn't he. A lot of these Germans have the same sort of voice. I'd like to make sure."
After a careful look round he stole back along the bank of the stream until he came opposite the wood in the rear of the clearing, crossed to the other side, crept through the wood, darted across the road, then turned to the right and in the course of a few minutes reached the trees which had been left standing to shade the bungalow when the ground was cleared. Moving among them cautiously, he came to the rear of the building. It had evidently been run up hurriedly. Piles of timber left over from its construction were stacked close behind it. After a little hesitation Frank gained the shelter of one of these. There were voices at his right, where the verandah was closed at the end. The planks there, being of unseasoned wood, had started, leaving one or two gaping cracks. Frank looked through one of these into the verandah. Two men were lolling in deck chairs. Between them was a table on which there were tumblers, bottles, and the remains of a meal.
The furthermost man, whose face was towards Frank, was clearly a Turkish officer. He was smoking a cigarette. The nearer figure, broader, more massive, showed only his side face. That belonged either to Wonckhaus or to his double. He was reclining at ease. His right hand held a big cigar. Opposite him stood the engine-man.
"Get everything ready for to-night, then," Wonckhaus was saying.
"Jawohl, Herr Major."
At this moment shouts came from the direction of the pool. Frank smiled again: the suspended Turk had at last mustered the courage of despair.
"What is that horrible noise?" demanded Wonckhaus.
"It is probably the hamal," replied the engine-man.
"Why does he shout? What is the matter with him? Is he drowning?"
"No, Herr Major, he is hanging."
"Lieber Himmel! What do you mean?"
"He is half way up. I left him there when the Herr Major summoned me. He is getting tired. He will drop."
"Dummkopf! Go and haul him up instantly. He is a useful man."
Wonckhaus burst into loud laughter.
"It is amusing, very funny."
He took a long drink and resumed:
"There are occasions, lieutenant, when our admirable German discipline recoils upon us. But one cannot have it all ways. Take a drink."
"Thank you, major, but I will not drink beer. Some Turks take it with a quiet conscience, but not I."
"Please yourself. When we have been with you a little longer your scruples will vanish. There are lemons; help yourself. How you can drink lemonade passes my understanding. Lemons set my teeth on edge. The scent of them makes me shudder."
The Turk was in the act of squeezing a lemon into a tumbler when a telegraph instrument clicked.
"Take it, will you?" said Wonckhaus, indolently.
The Turk sprang up and went through a French window into the adjoining room. The clicking continued for a while. Presently he returned.
"Three torpedo boats, two believed to be British, one French, sighted off Cape Baba," he said.
"Ah! our friends will scarcely get in to-night, then, unless they have already slipped past."
"It will not be easy to see them in the darkness."
"These English have eyes everywhere. They see in the dark like a cat. Yet perhaps with luck and, what is better, German watchfulness, all will be well. Hand me the telephone."
The Turk obeyed silently, but in a manner that suggested resentment at the German's peremptory tone. Wonckhaus spoke into the instrument in German.
"Keep a sharp look-out. Torpedo boats are reported off the coast."
The lieutenant got up and moved towards the door.
"I shall turn in," called Wonckhaus after him. "You had better do the same. We shall be up all night; probably to no purpose. I am tired of this. It would suit one of Von Tirpitz's men better than me."
He lay back in his chair, pulled at his cigar, and finding that it had gone out, threw it away, rose, stretched himself, yawned, and walked slowly into the bungalow.
Frank had heard and seen enough. He knew what the "holy men" were engaged in. It only remained to return on his tracks and report his discoveries to the lieutenant-commander, who would know how to act on them. Slipping back into the wood, he made his leisurely way to his former observation post, where he sat down and ate some food he had brought from the khan, in the slow abstracted manner of one deep in thought. Then he returned by the way he had come, found his horse in the thicket, and rode southward, without hurry, for his friends would not expect him until dark.
On approaching the road, he dismounted, again tied up his horse to a tree, and threw himself on his back. He was very tired, but dared not indulge his longing for a nap, and when he found slumber stealing upon him, he sprang up and strolled about in the woods. The afternoon seemed particularly long. But he was prudent enough not to take to the open road until the fall of night. Then he rode rapidly, passed the khan, turned his horse loose some distance from it, and struck off towards the shore. It was a matter of some ten minutes' walking before he came to the matting, which now lay dry on the beach where it had been left. There he sat, looking over the sea, and listening intently. About an hour later his ears caught the faint sound of muffled oars. He walked down to the brink of the water, waited a few moments until assured that he was not mistaken, then gave a low whistle. The boat pulled in, and Frank, too impatient to await its beaching, waded out towards it and scrambled over the side.
"Well?" whispered the lieutenant-commander.
"O.K. Now it's up to you. I'll tell you all about it when we get clear of the shore."
CHAPTER XXIII
CAPTURING A SUBMARINE
Nothing more was said until Frank and the naval officer were once more aboard the fishing vessel. Then, as the boat ran down the coast, Frank related his experiences of the past two days.
"Holy men!" chuckled the lieutenant-commander. "It'll be sacrilege, then. After this war I shall cruise about the world in search of a German with a sense of humour. You say you know that fellow?"
"Yes, and I've a bone to pick with him. He nearly did me out of a carpet."
"Oh! How was that?"
Frank told as much as he cared to of the incident in Erzerum. The naval officer laughed.
"It was amusing, certainly, until the ruffian had me locked up," said Frank.
And then, bit by bit, his companion drew from him the details upon which he had kept silence.
"I wish we had a Ruhleben in England," growled the officer. "Our prisoners have too easy a time. But this Wonckhaus shall have an opportunity of cultivating holiness in an English prison, and I hope he won't like it."
Presently he went forward, and sent a few flashes seaward from a lantern carefully screened from the shore. There were answering flashes out at sea. In half an hour a destroyer loomed up out of the darkness. The lieutenant-commander went aboard with Frank and the seamen, and the fishing vessel was made fast to a hawser from the stern. There was a brief conference on deck.
"That's all right then," said the officer. "Now, my dear chap, you must be dead tired. Tumble below. I'll wake you when I want you."
While Frank slept, the destroyer ran slowly up the gulf. He awoke at a touch.
"Sorry to disturb you so soon, but you must come up."
Frank rose sleepily and went on deck. The destroyer was moving dead slow.
"We're on a course parallel with the shore," said the officer. "Just keep your eye lifting over the port quarter, will you?"
Frank did as he was instructed. In a minute or two he saw two dim lights on shore, which vanished almost immediately.
"The question is, are they the lights of a farmhouse, or somewhere in the channel?" said the officer.
"It's late for a farmhouse."
"Exactly. Wait a little. Keep looking out."
The vessel stopped, then moved slowly backward. The lights appeared again.
"Now I'll tell you my inference," the officer went on. "From your description of the place, lights in the bungalow or the huts could not be seen from the sea. But lights placed somewhere on the cliffs at the end of the channel could be seen as we pass across the mouth, and only then; a movement of a few yards forward or astern will shut them off. I take it, then, that the lights are in fact at the inner end of the channel--and we know why."
"I haven't any doubt of it," said Frank.
"Then go below and get into your own toggery. You may then sleep another hour or two."
About two hours after midnight Frank was again awakened. With the lieutenant-commander, a lieutenant, a warrant-officer, and two sturdy seamen in addition to the boat's crew, he got into the fishing vessel, which cast off and stood in towards the shore. The destroyer steamed away out to sea. The officers were armed with revolvers, the men with rifles.
It was about two hours before dawn when the party landed from the dinghy at the spot on the beach where the matting showed up darkly against the sand. Placing himself at the head, Frank led the way up through the trees, the rest following about a yard apart. They marched in perfect silence; not a word was uttered. Every now and then as they penetrated the dark woodland Frank halted. The officer next to him touched him on the shoulder, the next touched him in turn, and so on along the line until all were accounted for. The necessity of caution made their progress slow, and they took more than an hour to cover ground which Frank alone had traversed in twenty minutes. Then they stopped, and lay down in the wood to await the dawn.
According to Frank's calculation it was about seven miles from their landing-place to the bungalow by the road, possibly a little shorter distance along the cliffs. But they would gain nothing in time by taking the shorter way, owing to the denseness of the woodland. To proceed along the road would almost certainly be fatal, for unfrequented though it was, no one could say that some member of the Turko-German party, or some messenger from a distance, might not happen to pass on an errand, and the sight of eight men in British uniform would give the game away. As soon as a glimmer of daylight filtered through the foliage, therefore, Frank led them on as close to the shore as possible. During their pause they had taken the opportunity to eat some bread and cheese they had brought with them.
"There won't be time for breakfast in the bungalow," murmured Frank with a smile.
The way along the cliffs proved unexpectedly arduous, and it was past midday when they arrived at the outer fence, at a spot not far distant from where Frank had first encountered it. Here the warrant officer went forward, cut the wire in two places, and, when the party had passed through, joined the severed ends in such a way that they could be readily loosened, though only a close examination would discover what had been done. Once more Frank took the lead, following his scarcely distinguishable track of two days before. Leaving the rest of the party among the trees, he went on alone until he reached the live fence, and having enlarged the small excavation through which he had wriggled, he crept to his hiding-place on the bank of the stream to observe what was going on at the bungalow and the pool.
Things were apparently very much as when he left nearly twenty-four hours before. There was one new feature in the scene. A rough country cart stood in front of one of the huts, and two Turks--one of them the victim of German discipline--were unloading it and carrying the stores into the hut. No driver was visible, and Frank remembered that the country people were not allowed to come within the fence. At the gate, then, must be at least one man on guard. A man crossed between the bungalow and the adjacent hut: probably he was cook and servant to the officers. The engine-man sat on an upturned tub, smoking, and exercising his German wit on the labouring Turks. A look-out was perched on his platform in the tree, peering through a telescope. No doubt the officers were in the bungalow, possibly sleeping after a wakeful night. The whole party appeared to consist of eight men--a small force considering the importance of their duties; but Frank reflected that a larger force would have endangered the precious secret they were guarding.
To him, of course, it was a secret no longer. This secluded pool had been chosen, with admirable judgment, as the base of one of the German submarines which had lately been mischievous in the Ægean. It was probably the very submarine whose periscope he had caught a rapid glimpse of at Panderma. Wonckhaus had been put in charge of the base, no doubt because the injury to his leg had temporarily unfitted him for the heavy work required of the German infantry officer. He had expected the vessel to run in on the previous night, until the telegraph wire brought news that enemy torpedo boats were watching in the gulf. That it had not arrived was clear at a glance. The only vessel in the pool was the lighter, and Frank suspected that the packages he had seen lowered into it contained supplies for the submarine crew, and had been removed from the hut for greater facility in transferring them to the war vessel. The "holy men," to do them justice, did not consume the whole of the immense consignments which had amazed the Turkish carrier.
The object with which the small British party had come to this secret spot was nothing less than the capture of the submarine. As a preliminary to that they must seize the settlement and its inhabitants, a feat for which the seven British seamen who had come under his guidance should be amply competent. They had four Germans, trained men, to deal with; three Turks, of whom one was an officer, the two others menials; and the servant, whose nationality Frank did not know; he might be a Levantine, and of no account. With the advantage of surprise and of British daring and discipline the task of the adventurous eight should be easy enough. The one essential condition of success was that none of the German's party should get away. The escape of a single man might ruin the enterprise.
Frank waited some time at his post of observation, to make sure that his estimate of the number of the enemy was accurate. He saw the last load carried from the cart to the hut; it was a nine-gallon cask of beer; then one of the Turks mounted, and drove off down the road. As soon as he no longer heard the rumbling of the wheels, Frank hastened back to his friends.
"I thought you were never coming," said the lieutenant-commander. "Is she there?"
"No. Evidently she couldn't get through."
"I didn't think she would, but I'm glad to be sure of it, for we couldn't have tackled the whole crew. Why were you so long?"
Frank gave the result of his observations. The officers smiled happily.
"Now then," said the lieutenant-commander, "the first thing is to raid the bungalow, and collar the officers. They control the telegraph and telephone. You know the place, Forester; I'll give you two of the men to assist. They'll take their instructions from you. I'll wait until I get a signal from you that you have done the trick, or until I hear a row in that direction. They are sure to show fight. But I needn't say that if you can manage it quietly, so much the better for our ultimate success."
"I'll do my best," said Frank. "It's a good deal later than when I was here yesterday, and I shouldn't be surprised if they're taking their siesta."
"Very well. Now let me take my bearings. How do I steer?"
"You go straight on until you reach the stream. You'll see the place where I have scooped a passage for you at the foot of one of the posts supporting the wire. The men must be careful, or they'll be electrocuted."
"I'll see to that."
"You cross the stream, turn to the left, cut along the bank--and there you are."
"Perfectly clear sailing directions. But what about the road?"
"Cross that: you can slip along among the trees. Better keep a look-out for the Turk who went down with the cart. He'll be coming back presently, with the German seaman who I suspect was on guard at the gate."
"You'll be a staff-officer some day, my friend. Well, it's all clear. We'll arrange our plans: you had better cut off. Here, Moggs and Parker, you're under Mr. Forester's orders."
Two strapping seamen jumped up and saluted. One of them hitched up his breeches and spat on his hands.
"Good luck, then," said the lieutenant-commander.
Frank nodded, smiled, and led the men along the route he had followed the previous day to the timber stack at the rear of the bungalow. On the way he halted for a few minutes to explain in general terms what his purpose was, and to impress on them the need of absolute silence. When he reached the trees, he left them there under cover, to await his signal. Then he stole forward alone.
There was no sound except the servant moving about in the kitchen part of the building. He peeped through a chink in the wall of the verandah. No one was in view, but he now heard a succession of snores and grunts from somewhere in the interior. Turning, he beckoned to the seamen to join him. They came swiftly on tiptoe, screened from the look-out in the tree-top, not far away to their left, by the row of trees that almost overhung the bungalow.
Frank signed to them to stoop and follow him. Bending low, he crept along below the verandah, stopped for a moment to peep into a room, and finding that it was a bedroom and empty, led them on towards the kitchen. This, too, a glance showed to be unoccupied. But the servant must be near at hand, for Frank heard the splashing of water and the clatter of crockery. He must be washing up.
Moving still more cautiously, Frank came to the corner of the building. He looked round. Just outside the door a young sallow-hued oriental was washing up in a trough. Frank stole back to his men.
"Parker, you'll come with me," he whispered. "I'll leave you here, Moggs, to watch that fellow. If you hear a row inside the building, collar him and keep him quiet. But don't move otherwise unless I call you."
"Ay, ay, sir."
Followed by Parker, he went to the French window of the empty bedroom, gently forced the catch with his clasp knife, and entered. Tiptoeing across it, he passed out of the open door, into a short passage. From the left he heard the faint sounds of the cook's movements: the kitchen was in that direction. On the right, a few steps along, light fell across the passage from an open door. Frank stole up to this and peeped in. It was another bedroom, like the first unoccupied. Almost opposite this was a closed door; there was no other door on either side or at the end. This must be the sitting-room, parlour or sanctum of the holy men. Muffled by the timber, there came through the door the sound of snoring he had heard outside. He listened for a moment. The snores were all in one tone: it appeared likely that he had only one man to deal with. Was it Wonckhaus or the Turk? Or perhaps Wonckhaus was sleeping, and the other man admiring him.
He drew his revolver, very gently turned the handle of the door, and looked in when the crack was wide enough. The room had only one occupant. Wonckhaus, big, ungainly, lay stretched in a long cane chair, his head lolling sideways, his mouth wide open, one arm hanging limp, a long German pipe held loosely in the other hand. On a small round table beside him were a tobacco-jar, a black bottle, and a glass. Beyond this was another long chair, beside which stood a stool, bearing a glass, a carafe of water, and a few small pale lemons. And the room rang with German snores.
Frank's eye, swiftly ranging the room, passed from the lemons to the open mouth. It was a happy chance. He turned to Parker at his elbow and whispered a few words. The man nodded. Then Frank opened the door, and stole on his toes round the back of Wonckhaus's chair to the stool. From this he took up a lemon about the size of a hen's egg, and with the quickness of a conjurer slipped it into the gaping mouth. The German awoke with a convulsive start and shudder--and his eyes, bleared with sleep, fell on a revolver pointed within six inches of his temple, and above it the face, a little grimmer than it had ever appeared in a photograph, of the man whom he had not seen for many weeks, even in his dreams.
Before he could collect his wits, Parker stepped up to him on the other side and with some ends of thin rope which he had taken from his capacious blouse tied the German's hands and feet, with a British seaman's quickness and thoroughness.
"Now for the cook," said Frank.
They went back into the passage. The cook was still washing up. Entering the kitchen noiselessly, they crept to the door. Frank made a sign, Parker rushed out, caught the unsuspicious servant by the throat, and in two minutes had laid him, gagged and trussed, just inside the kitchen door. It was a credit to the discipline of the British navy that Moggs, watching these proceedings with amazement round the corner, neither moved nor uttered a sound.
It was now time to bring up the rest of the party, who, he guessed, had by this time reached a point from which he could be seen if he moved a few yards from the bungalow towards the hut opposite. But in making this movement he would be seen also from the tree-top. The look-out must be prevented from giving the alarm. Frank showed the seamen how they might approach the tree from the rear unperceived, and ordered them to make the man their prisoner. When that was done he would give the expected signal to the others.
The seamen had only just disappeared among the trees when Frank was startled by the sound of a horse cantering up the road towards the bungalow. Running to the window of the room facing the road, he saw that the horseman was the Turkish officer who had been with Wonckhaus two days before. It seemed that the naval party had not yet arrived, or they would certainly have intercepted the Turk.
Frank weighed the chances of tackling this opponent alone, and quickly made up his mind. With two of the enemy already accounted for, and a third, the look-out, soon to be helpless, the noise of a struggle would bring up the rest of his party before the remaining four men could interfere to his harm. He waited within the room. The Turk reined up and dismounted at the door, and walked in unsuspiciously. At this moment there was a shout from the direction of the look-out tree, and the officer turned quickly and ran out into the open. Frank sprang after him. The Turk heard his footsteps and faced round, not rapidly enough to brace himself for the shock of Frank's sudden onset. He was hurled to the ground, shouting an alarmed call for Wonckhaus.
[image]A CRITICAL MOMENT
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A CRITICAL MOMENT
Though taken by surprise, the Turk proved to be a more formidable antagonist than Frank had expected. His frame was well-knit and sinewy, and he held Frank in a fierce grapple. They heaved and rolled on the ground, each struggling desperately to throw off the grip of the other. In less than a minute Frank was aware that the contest, if fought out, must be a long one. By a sudden convulsive twist, indeed, the Turk had managed to reverse the positions and get above him. There were shouts near at hand, and the sound of running feet. Frank feared that the Germans were coming to the officer's help, and wrestled vigorously to regain the upper hand. Just as he felt that his opponent was weakening, the Turk suddenly relaxed his grip wholly and fell over. Springing up, Frank found that one of the seamen from the lieutenant-commander's party had run ahead of the rest, and finished the struggle with the butt of his rifle.
Meanwhile the officers and the rest of the men had been busy at the huts. The few inmates, alarmed at the shouts, had started to run towards the bungalow, but came to a sudden stop when, on the other side of the buildings, they saw five British naval men charging in the same direction. They hesitated, paralysed by surprise; and when the lieutenant-commander rushed up with drawn revolver and called on them to surrender, they yielded without a show of resistance, and were soon prisoners in their own huts.
"Where's Wonckhaus?" were the lieutenant-commander's first words as he joined Frank at the bungalow.
"Come and see."
He led him into the room where Wonckhaus lay bound in his chair, the lemon still wedged between his teeth. The naval officer concealed a smile.
"Perhaps the gentleman would prefer some beer," he said. "Remove that plug, Simpson," he added to the warrant officer, indicating the lemon. "Give the major some beer, and then lock him in his bedroom. We shall want this room."
Wonckhaus glared at Frank with unspeakable hate, but uttered no word. When he had been removed, the warrant officer went to see what had become of Moggs and Parker, and met them returning in high feather with their prisoner. The look-out had caught sight of them just as they reached the tree, and given the shout which had alarmed the Turkish officer. But seeing himself immediately covered by the sailor's rifles he had surrendered at once. The place was won, and all its personnel disposed of.
Having ordered his men to prepare dinner from the bungalow's abundant stores, the lieutenant-commander with his second and Frank sat down to discuss the more difficult problem--the capture of the submarine.
"Our only chance is if it comes in to-night," said the lieutenant-commander. "As it was expected last night, it is pretty certain to come to-night, and our ships have ostentatiously cleared off. If it doesn't come, we are done, for we can't remain here undiscovered for another day."
"Why not?" asked the lieutenant.
"Well, apart from possible visits from Germans or Turks, there's the telegraph. A message is sure to come through, and it will be in Turkish probably. It was the Turk who took the message when you were here before, Forester?"
"Yes."
"Very well. You can work the telegraph, Bickford, but you don't know Turkish. Forester knows Turkish, but----"
"I can't work the telegraph," said Frank.
"Then if we are called up we must simply ignore the call. That will lead to investigation and discovery. There's my proposition proved. We must help the submarine to come in to-night. Where are those lights worked?"
"Let's go and see," said Frank.
After no long search two electric lamps, fed from the dynamo that charged the fence wire, were discovered in the cliff opposite the centre of the channel. They were so placed as to give a straight course to any vessel coming up from the sea. Another lamp, invisible from the sea, marked the entrance to the pool. It was decided to switch on the current at dusk.
To guard against trouble on the landward side, two seamen were stationed in hiding near the gate of the inner fence, which was left open. If anyone should approach, he was to be allowed to pass in; but the gate was then to be closed, cutting off his retreat. For safety's sake, the electric current was switched off from the fence.
It was now about four o'clock. The lights would not need to be shown till nearly seven. There were three hours for rest and for recruiting their strength from Wonckhaus's larder. The officers hastened back to see what sort of a meal had been provided for them. It beggared their most hopeful expectation. There were pork cutlets--"the place is all pig, sir," remarked the extempore cook--several kinds of sausage, many varieties of pickle and relish, pots of caviare and pâté de foie gras, smoked salmon, a mellow gruyère cheese, as well as a very strong German cheese which the lieutenant-commander ordered to be removed immediately, tinned fruits, good white bread--"none of your potato flour for Wonckhaus"--and oceans of beer. Neither officers nor men had had such a meal for months.
"Please, sir," said Moggs, coming to the bungalow after the men had finished their dinner in the hut opposite.
"Well, what is it?"
"Can we strafe some more beer?"
"No, you've had enough. We've got work to do to-night."
Moggs looked disappointed.
"Then it won't be done, sir," he said.
"What won't be done?"
"Why, sir, Parker said if we was allowed to strafe another barrel he'd be screwed up to concert pitch, and would be very happy to sing the Hymn of Hate to the German gentleman abaft yonder. He must want cheering up, says he."
"Get out with you! Parker can sing what he likes when we get back aboard. Tell him he's to take first watch on the cliff to-night."
At dusk the men went to their appointed stations. Parker was posted on the cliff near the entrance to the channel. The warrant officer took charge of the donkey-engine, Moggs was entrusted with the crane; the other men hauled from the storehouse several cases of ammunition, weighing in all three or four tons, piled them near the crane, chained them together, and covered them with a thick blanket taken from the bungalow. The lieutenant's task was to do what was necessary in the powerhouse. Frank sat with the lieutenant-commander in one of the huts.
It was about ten o'clock when Parker came in hurriedly from his post on the cliff.
"Submarine coming in, sir," he reported. "I heard her purring under water first; then the engines stopped, and I saw her come awash just outside the channel. She'll be nearly here, sir."
The officers went to the door of the hut, and listened anxiously. No sound was audible above the dash of the waterfall. Had the commander of the submarine become suspicious and run out to sea again? In a few minutes, however, the sound of the engines came faintly on the breeze. Looking through the darkness to the gap in the cliffs where the pool and the channel met, they at last saw the dark shape glide in. The engines were stopped, but the vessel's steerage way carried her into the pool, and she was brought up deftly alongside the lighter.
From below came a hail in Turkish. Frank, now standing beside the crane, replied.
"Why didn't you answer our signals?" demanded the voice, huffily.
Frank, who was unaware of any signals, answered at a venture:
"There is something wrong with our lamps."
"Who are you? Where is Talik?"
"He is invalided. I am taking his place. Are you coming up?"
"Yes. Why isn't Major Wonckhaus here?"
"He'll be here directly."
"Well, switch on the light: what are you waiting for?"
"The switch is broken." Frank referred to the switch of an electric lamp at the top of the crane. "You must come up in the dark. Look out! The chain is running out."
The engine had started, and the chain was swinging down over the arm of the crane. The commander of the submarine caught it, set his foot in the loop provided, and was hauled slowly up, and swung inward towards the huts. Meanwhile the men in waiting had removed the blanket from the pile of cases, and the moment the commander's feet touched the ground he was muffled closely in the blanket, and carried struggling into a hut, where his captors had materials ready for securing him.
"Good man!" murmured the lieutenant-commander, clapping Frank on the back. "With him out of the way all's well, I think. Now, I'll take up the running.--Look alive with those cases," he added, still in a low tone, addressing the seamen who were attaching the massed cases to the end of the chain. The crane swung out, and the weighty mass dangled directly over the submarine, on whose deck the crew could be dimly seen, gazing up in surprise: surely they were not to take in ammunition at this hour of the night. How much greater was their astonishment when they heard from above a ringing voice in English.
"Below there! Any of you speak English?"
After a short interval a man replied in the affirmative.
"Thank you," called the lieutenant-commander. "I am in command of an English landing-party. Your commander is a prisoner. If your vessel attempts to move, I'll cut away the weight you see above you, and sink you. I give you three minutes to surrender."
The terse sentences, the peremptory tone, left no room for doubt. Before the three minutes were up, the crew had come to a unanimous decision. They would surrender.
"Thank you. Now every one of you go aboard the lighter and leave your arms behind."
The men went silently from one vessel to the other. Then the crane switch was suddenly found to be in order, and a light flashed from the top. From the lighter the men were hauled up by ropes, one by one.
"How many are there of you?" asked the lieutenant-commander of the first.
"Twenty."
The same question put to one or two more received the same reply. As the men passed him, the officer counted them.
"Eighteen! Nineteen! No more?" He turned to two British sailors. "Down you go!"
They slid down the rope, boarded the submarine, and dived below. In a few moments they returned, hauling a man between them. They made him fast to the chain, and by the time he was hoisted they had swarmed up the rope.
"Just going to fire the magazine, sir," said one.
"Tie him up."
Half an hour later the submarine was heading out to sea, running on the surface. On the deck, uncomfortably crowded, lay a number of well-trussed figures--the commander and crew, and Wonckhaus: his subordinates at the station were left behind. Beyond Mitylene, as morning dawned, the lieutenant-commander exchanged signals with a destroyer out at sea. The vessel stood in, and in due time the submarine came alongside her. Cheers broke from the men on her deck. Willing hands hoisted the prisoners on board and loosed them from their bonds at the bidding of the commander.
"I much regret it was necessary to bind you, gentlemen," he said to the officers. "The necessity was clear."
They heard him in glum silence--all but Wonckhaus.
"Necessity!" he blustered. "Is necessity to override the laws of civilised warfare? What sort of treatment is it to choke a German officer with lemons, tie him up, and sling him from a crane? It is unfair; it is barbarous."
The commander glanced at Frank, standing in the background.
"Is it wise to talk of civilised warfare, Herr Wonckhaus?" he said quietly, stepping forward. "Shall I refresh your memory of what happened at Erzerum?"
"You were in my power," snarled the German, not a whit abashed, and sublimely unconscious of inconsistency. The humour of the situation tickled the British officers: they laughed aloud.
"That is unanswerable, sir," said the commander, with ironical courtesy. "You will no doubt do me the favour to go below. Mr. Watson, please show Major Wonckhaus the way."
The smallest midshipman on the ship came forward, gravely saluted, and repressing a smile with obvious effort, said:
"This way, sir."
Wonckhaus looked from the midshipman to the commander. Something in the expression of the latter helped him to make up his mind. And a broad grin enwrapped the whole ship's company as the big German stalked away under convoy of the boy.